Engineering and a Career in the IT industry. Let’s do a #RealityCheck
This will be an eye-opener.
It won’t be wrong to say that Software Engineers are still among the highest paid employees in the country, if not in the world. However, this scenario is fast changing. While the demand for engineers is still at an all time high, the quality of engineers, unfortunately, isn’t keeping up. The number of placements reducing at an alarming 40% this year alone is a clear indication of this fact.
The question now is, whose fault is it? Is the current education system not good enough to acquaint the students with the required skillset? Are the students not able to cope up with the continuously growing standards of the industry? Or, are the companies making things so complicated that no one is able to match their hiring criteria? Let’s find out.
First, let us analyse this from the students perspective. Consider a student who has just cleared his 12th boards. What is the first thing that they look for before taking admission? Obviously, placement record. A few people would argue here that academics, infrastructure and fee structure is what is taken into consideration. But, let’s get real. As long as the institution has a decent placement record, we are ready to compromise on everything else. After all, what use is the degree if it can’t get you a job at the end of the day, right?
But, are things really this simple? Or rather, is that what we should really be looking at? Well, here lies the problem. The single most important factor which must be considered is whether the student is actually interested in the course he is going to pursue for the next few years. Because, if he isn’t interested in what he is studying, he will definitely not be good at it. And that is what ultimately results in “quality” issues during placements.
The solution? If you are a student and are not sure about which field to pursue, take a year’s break. It’s absolutely fine. Spend 12 months trying various things out and figure out what excites you. Then, you know exactly what to do. After all, what’s worse? Spending one year trying to figure out your passion or spending 4 years studying something you hate? Think for yourself.
I would also like to take a moment here and urge parents to cooperate when their child is going through this period, between 12th Grade results and College admissions, because that is what will eventually decide his future. It is crucial that they let their children decide for themselves. That way, things can never go wrong.
The Problem in the Current System
Next, let us look at the problem in the current system. I have heard this argument multiple times that the system should not judge on the basis of marks and should focus on imparting practical knowledge. But, this is much easier said than done. Let me justify. Right now, in my college alone, there are over 25000 students, and around 10000 students graduate every year. What I am trying to emphasise here is the amount of competition in today’s world. The problem is, how do you filter so many students? So far, the marks based system has been successful in doing that, with a few exceptions, of course. But, figuring out a solution to a problem which exists since forever is going to take time.
Another common argument is that people say that the theory-only approach doesn’t provide the exposure required to be capable to work in the industry. In response to that, the only thing I have to say, is that in the past few years, most of the major institutions have adopted the “PBL” course model, which stands for Project Based Learning, where students are required to develop certain projects in all the courses they take. This gives them a practical hands on approach and helps them learn how things are done in the industry. But then again, adopting to a totally new system will take time, and that will gradually happen.
But looking at the Current trends in the IT industry, if you go by the latest reports, almost all the major IT firms are firing a whopping 58,000 people this year, combined. This is a cumulative effect of multiple factors, including the lack in quality of graduates and another factor is the recent H1-B Bill passed by Donald Trump regarding the new wage rules for jobs in the US.
Again, by 2020, the number of employees are supposed to be even lesser, because most companies are working on automating things, which means lesser number of job openings. What this means is that there is no chance for an employee to survive in the industry unless they know their stuff perfectly.
So, ultimately, it all boils down to this — only if you are actually interested in the field and have what it takes to blend in, should you go for a Software Engineering degree. I know this is a bold statement to make, but then, that’s how things are looking right now.
So, figure out what you are passionate about, and then, when you are absolutely sure, go and pursue that field. There is nothing that can stop you from excelling in something that interests you.
Aquib Ajani is The Climber’s MyCaptain Web Development and Coder’s Pack Mentor. He is 20 and has developed various courses Online so far. Aquib has also worked with various startups at different levels, and has mentored more than 100 students so far on our Platform, all with extremely positive reviews. Join his Workshop : www.mycaptain.in/web_dev.html
